long Amtrak trips?

[laurenhat]

Has anyone ridden the Amtrak Coast Starlight (runs between L.A. and Seattle), or traveled overnight on an Amtrak train going elsewhere? It seems like it could be a more fun and comfortable way to travel to Seattle than flying, though not terribly efficient. Still, I could spend a day working in comfort with a really nice view. However, it seems

Comments

[rubrick]

I've never taken it myself, but I recall Zoe describing it as a great way to travel as long as timeliness is nowhere on your list of priorities. I think she reported something like 7 total hours of delays between SF and Seattle.

[laurenhat]

Oh wow -- good to know about the potential delay.

[jedusor]

Yeah, don't ever rely on Amtrak being punctual. I've done my fair share of train travel, and I've never once gotten in on time.

I didn't have any trouble falling asleep when I did an overnight trip, but then I can't get through a one-hour plane ride without falling asleep, even if I'm in the middle seat next to two strangers. Something about traveling makes me conk right out.

[laurenhat]

Most of my experience with Amtrak has been good; I travel a lot on the Capitol Corridor, between Oakland and Santa Clara, and I've only been delayed a handful of times. But I can remember a couple pretty lousy delays in there. And I have no idea if it's one of the more reliable routes -- sounds like maybe so.

[piemancer]

I have had no trouble at all sleeping in the very spacious coach seats on the train. I much prefer train to travel by car or plane.

[laurenhat]

Thanks for the info! How much do the seats recline?

[piemancer]

I didn't bring my protractor. As I recall, it's quite a bit, even if you're in the back, because the seats have lots of room behind them.

The Coast Starlight is the sweet, roomy train. I loved it when I got those. Don't be in a hurry when you're on it; it's a civilized ride.

[lightning_rose]

A few years ago, my sister rode the train from Denver to Emeryville. I think it was a 3 day, 2 night trip. She had some sort of private sleeper room.

I know it cost more than flying, but she enjoyed the scenery.

[laurenhat]

It definitely seems attractive that way. Thanks for the info!

[contessagrrl]

I recommend asking deirdre about her experience traveling via Amtrak from Colorado to SF (for last year's NYE).

It includes a train breaking down, being stuck in Salt Lake City (on the tracks) for many, many hours, the bar being closed down and no food available for purchase.

While I suspect that a train outright breaking down is rare, their mishandling of the situation speaks to a larger problem, which I would be wary of.

Having said all of that, I also relish the idea of seeing a bit of the country on a slow train crawl. I think it could be awesome. Plus, there won't be a rabid GPS telling you to drive into the median while you're in the middle of a storm bad enough that you've begun to wonder if God exists, and hates you.

[laurenhat]

Yikes, that sounds bad! But yes, at least my train trip would not involve homicidal GPSes or Fucklahoma. *giggle*

[tenlegspider]

Phil and I did a train trip around the US which included some of the Starlight and all of the California Zephyr and the Sunset, which are both about 2.5 days. We didn't mean to do either of them all in one go, but we did with both and it didn't feel like too long to be on a train

[laurenhat]

Thanks for all this train info -- really useful!